Panthers Rookie Report Card – 1999-2000

The 99-00 season didn’t offer a lot of roster spots to Panthers prospects and rookies because during the 1998-99 season the Panthers had 4 rookies play

complete seasons (Parrish, Worrell, Spacek, and Kvasha), and they all earned full-time roster spots that year. In addition, this

year saw the surprising resurrection of Cam Stewart, and the signing of veteran Ray Sheppard for a bargain basement price.

Add all of these factors together, combined with the AHL Louisville Panthers needing a full roster of prospects, and it didn’t give much chance for a

young player to earn a spot on the big club and make a noticeable contribution, ala Scott Gomez, Maxim Afigenenov, Brad

Stuart, or Michael York.

What we did get to see was a few prized rookies get call-ups due to injuries to veterans, or promising play in the minors, which led to them getting an audition. Most came with high expectations. Some came with a curious wonderment from the

fans who got to finally see the players attached to the names they read about in the paper, or seen in the extensive TV coverage